Generally, forceps are plier-like instruments that have opposing jaws. The forceps can be used during a medical procedure to effect an anatomical feature of interest such as a vessel or tissue. For example, some forceps can be used to move, grip, grasp, push, pull, cut, coagulate, dissect and/or otherwise effect a vessel or tissue. The forceps can also be used in non-medically related procedures to move, grip, grasp, push, pull, cut, and/or otherwise effect an object. Some forceps also include electrosurgical capabilities for cutting and/or coagulating an anatomical feature.
Forceps typically include jaws that are moveable between an open and closed position. Some forceps have rigid or inflexible jaws so that a uniform gripping and/or grasping force can be applied to an object or anatomical feature between the jaws. However, unless the forceps include a discontinuous joint, mechanism and/or assembly, rigid or inflexible jaws may be difficult to move between the open and closed position. A discontinuous joint, mechanism, and/or assembly may, however, require multiple parts to be assembled onto the forceps, which may undesirably add time and cost to the manufacturing and/or assembly process. Moreover, a discontinuous joint, mechanism, and/or assembly may increase a section size of the forceps, which may restrict use of the forceps in laparoscopic procedures, for example.
Instead of rigid or inflexible jaws having discontinuous joints, mechanisms, and/or assemblies, some forceps have resilient or flexible jaws. That is, the resilient or flexible jaws can be moved or biased between an open and closed position without a discontinuous joint, mechanism, and/or assembly. However, due to jaw deflection, some challenges exist in providing a uniform gripping and/or grasping forces between the jaws with such resilient or flexible jaws. Some examples of forceps are taught in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,735,849 and 5,445,638, the disclosures of which are hereby incorporated by reference herein, in their entireties for all purposes.
It may therefore be desirable to improve the current state in the art by proving an instrument or forceps having one or more resilient or flexible jaws capable of providing a uniform gripping and/or grasping forces between the jaws without a discontinuous joint, mechanism, and/or assembly. That is, it may be desirable to provide jaws that are capable of applying a uniform gripping and/or grasping force to an object or anatomical feature provided between the gripping portions or a jaw assembly.